Dlamini-Zuma: Groundwork for 2021 census to be laid this year

PARLIAMENT - Planning for South Africa's next national census, which will for the first time see population information collected electronically, will kick off this year, MPs were told on Wednesday.

Presenting the Statistics South Africa budget vote in Parliament, the Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said the 2021 population count is vital to plan for South Africa's needs.

"Conducting a population census is the biggest statistical survey any country and national statistics agency can undertake," she said.

She said the data would be collected via computer assisted personal interviews.